THE WASHINGTON POST: VIENNA, Austria -- Austrians began voting in parliamentary elections Sunday that analysts said could bolster the standing of the country's two right-wing parties.
But with possibly more than half a million citizens mailing in their ballots or dropping them off in election wards other than their own, the day may end without a clear winner. Undecided voters could also sway predictions.
The governing coalition between the conservative People's Party and the center-left Social Democrats crumbled in July after months of bickering. What followed was a summerlong election campaign involving 10 parties on a national level. Four less-known groups are on the ballot in several districts.
On the eve of Sunday's election, the two power-sharing blocs were running neck and neck for the top spot. But neither looked likely to secure an absolute majority.
Instead, experts said disgruntled voters may reach out _ largely in protest _ to the rightist Freedom Party and the Alliance for the Future of Austria: groups known for their populist, anti-immigration rhetoric.
"Definitely the parties in government _ the Social Democrats and the Christian conservatives _ will lose" votes, said Peter Filzmaier, a respected Austrian political commentator, adding that both could see their worst results since 1945.
"The so-called Freedom Party, as well as the Alliance for the Future of Austria, will be a big winner," Filzmaier predicted. Gains for Far Right Predicted in Austria >>> By Veronika Oleksyn, The Associated Press | September 28, 2008
JERUSALEM POST:
High Stakes for Israel in Austrian Election: The outcome of Sunday's Austrian national elections will present a litmus test of the new government's ability to resist implementing the largest European gas deal with Iran. In 2007, the partially state-owned Austrian oil company OMV cut a preliminary €22 billion deal with the Islamic Republic to gain access to its South Par gas field. >>> By Benjamin Weinthal, Berlin | September 25, 2008
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